On the planet Kregen that circled the brightest star of the Constellation of the Scorpion, two forces contended for that world's destiny. One of them, the Savanti, called in a human pawn from far-away Earth. His name: Dray Prescot. His role: Only the Savanti knew.

Dray Prescot confronted a fabulous world - barbaric, unmapped, peopled with both human and inhuman races. But there were always the mysterious Star Lords to watch and check the Savanti's plans. And it soon turned out that Dray Prescot himself had to make such decisions as would change him from a mere pawn to a bolder piece on that planetary chessboard.